Tuesday, January 11, 2011

surprise party!

On Friday night I surprised my parents with a little anniversary celebration. January 18th marks their 25th wedding anniversary and I wanted to do something for them. I planned everything months in advance, secretly, behind their backs. I bought a plane ticket, made dinner reservations for 26, ordered a cake, and emailed everyone. {Click on any photo to enlarge it. :)}

I decided to be the second surprise of the evening. While all the guests stood in front of the doors and yelled "Happy Anniversary!" I hid behind a curtain until they were in the room, then snuck out the back door and into the front door. They were so surprised everyone was gathered, and even more surprised that I was there!

After dinner we went to my neighbor's house to have cake and champagne. The cake is actually a 'replica' of their wedding cake! Yes, they had a chocolate wedding cake! :)

It was so hard to keep it a secret for so long! But after all the things they have done for me in all the years of my life, I wanted to do something nice for them that they wouldn't expect. They deserve thanks for showing me such a great example of what love should be.

So the details: I flew in late Friday morning and my fabulous neighbor and friend {hi, patty!} picked me up from the airport. I picked up the cake from the bakery and hid out at her house until it was time to sneak to the restaurant. I made the banner at home before traveling. It was east to fold up and take with me. It all worked out wonderfully and they were definitely surprised!

Thanks to my sister for all her help in planning, and all the guests for keeping it a secret! I'm so glad that everything went off as planned!